


Spring

by LizAnn_5869



Series: Prompts and Requests [10]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Blossoms, F/M, Friendship, Love, Rebirth, Romance, Timepetals Prompt, new life, spring is in the air
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-01
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 14:10:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6427108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LizAnn_5869/pseuds/LizAnn_5869
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spring is in the air in three short vignettes with the Ninth, Tenth and Metacrisis Doctors and how their relationship with Rose Tyler evolved over the course of three separate springs.<br/>Written for the @timepetals ficlets prompt  "Spring in the Air."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spring

Rebirth   
Ninth Doctor and Rose

"I smell chips," Rose said, and with that they embarked on what they would call their first date.

The Doctor carried both chip baskets and Rose carried the drinks to an outdoor table by a small fence. "Everything still looks the same as when I left," Rose remarked.

"Well, if I was accurate in my flyin'....and I am remarkably accurate," he boasted, "then we have arrived just a few hours after you left the idiot in the alley."

"Oi, that idiot's my friend."

The Doctor smirked but kept any further opinions to himself. Rose thought it was probably a bit of a struggle for him. 

"So," Rose went on, changing the subject, "we've been to the future." She shook her head, still amazed and disturbed about what she'd seen. "Can we visit the past?"

The Doctor nodded, "That we could, Rose Tyler. Any time, anywhere. Any places you've thought of whilst daydreamin' in history class?"

"Daydreamin' being the operative word. Probably was thinkin' about anything else besides history. Well....I suppose there are a few places I'd like to see."

They ate and conversed for a while and the Doctor was amazed. He'd never fallen into such a comfortable conversation with another person before. He'd always held his companions in high regard, but he'd kept a distance, held himself above. The Time Lord conditioning, he supposed. 

It hadn't been all that long since he's regenerated into this form. He hadn't even seen his own face until he looked into the mirror in Rose's flat. Just yesterday he'd held a bomb in his hands, expecting to not survive the blast. Just yesterday, he would have welcomed that oblivion. Then he told Rose Tyler to run. 

When she refused his first offer to travel he had been faced with two possibilities. He could burn through his remaining regenerations. It wouldn't take long, really. Or he could ask her again. He'd never asked a person twice. 

In the end, the decision was obvious. He asked her again. He thought he'd done a good job masking his relief when she ran through the TARDIS doors. 

They finished their chips and decided to walk around the nearby park. Her hand slipped comfortably into his as they walked and talked. The Doctor found himself noticing the signs of spring bursting forth all around him. He hadn't paid attention before now. 

They walked past patches of daffodils just poking up from the ground, breaking out of winter sleep.   
He didn't want to compare himself, use some stupid metaphor. Rose would likely laugh herself silly comparing this daft old man to a flower.

However, for the first time in a long time he felt that he was finally stepping out of a long, dark cold winter into the warm light of spring. That first step had come when Rose Tyler said, "There's me." 

"Penny for 'em," Rose said with a grin. "You were a million miles away."

"Makin' plans, I was! And I might have an idea for you. You say you're up for a trip to the past?"

She smirked. "I'm up for anything."

"Feed her chips and she'll take on the world. I'll remember that. Anyway, Rose Tyler...back to the TARDIS!" 

They ran. 

 

******

 

Blossoms  
Tenth Doctor and Rose

The Doctor opened the TARDIS doors to reveal a canopy purple wisterias and gorgeous pink blossomed trees, each decorated with paper lanterns. A brilliant sunset backlit the pink and gold of the trees.

"Oh, blimey," Rose gasped as she followed him out. "Look at that. S' gorgeous. Look at all those lanterns. Where are we?" 

The Doctor gave her an eye crinkling grin, chuffed that he could impress her like this. "It's Kyoto, Japan."

"Oh," was all Rose could say around the lump in her throat. The Doctor was dismayed to see tears in her eyes just as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Rose, I didn't mean to make you cry," he whispered.

She chuckled, shaking her head. "No..no, it's brilliant. It's absolutely wonderful. Thank you." She stepped back a bit, smiling. He wanted to draw her back in closer to him. 

"We've had a rough time of it lately," he said, thinking of France and leaving Mickey behind in a parallel universe. "I didn't get a chance to take you back when I had the..." He trailed off, tugging at his ear. "Well, anyway, thought we could use some down time."

"You have the best ideas," Rose beams.

The Doctor offered Rose his arm. "That I do, Rose Tyler."

They discovered that they were in the twenty-first century, and the Doctor suspected that the TARDIS led them there to a quiet time when they could get a reservation at a nice restaurant so they could relax. He even paid. "We are tourists tonight, doing touristy things. We'll spend the night here and wake in the morning to take a guided walking tour," the Doctor announced as they finished their shared dessert.

"You won't constantly contradict and correct the tour guide, will you?" Rose asked with a tongue touched grin.

"Only if they get something wrong," the Doctor confirmed. They walked out of the restaurant, fingers linked, to a small bridge. They had a view of the sumptuous cherry trees lit with painted lanterns surrounding a pagoda. Rose pulled out her phone and handed it to the Doctor. Being the one with long arms, he was the best photographer for a selfie. Before he could, a passerby asked if he could take their picture, so they posed, arms around each other, smiling. 

They looked across the small pond at the pagoda. "Thank you," Rose whispered. "This has been lovely. The adventure and running is wonderful, but this.....it's nice."

"We needed it," the Doctor replied with a nod. He looked away from the pagoda to see that Rose wasn't looking at the scenery. Her hair glowed in the lantern light, surrounded by the illuminated pink of the blossoms. In that moment he forgot every rule of why they couldn't and shouldn't and of how he would lose her eventually. He wanted to kiss Rose. He realized he would regret it far more if he didn't kiss her.

Rose gazed at him, not sure if she should dare to hope. He leaned in, and she met him halfway, not realizing she'd already made the decision to do it. He brushed his lips over hers gently, and she responded insistently, catching his lower lip between hers as she slid her hand into his hair. She could feel the rumble of the moan in his chest as he tugged her closer, his hands flexing at her waist. The kiss deepened deliciously. 

Eventually, they stood close, forehead to forehead. "Oh, Rose," he sighed. He kissed her forehead gently, unable to resist.

She caressed his cheek. "My Doctor," she murmured.

"Yours," he agreed. 

They walked hand in hand back to the TARDIS, which was parked in the middle of a grove of cherry trees not far away. There wasn't a tourist in the city with a better view. 

The Doctor kissed Rose again when they entered the time ship, and the decision was made. They were quite busy all that night, and even the Doctor needed to have a lie-in when morning came. They missed their tour, but the Doctor proved to be an excellent tour guide. 

It was a lovely way to spend some down time.

 

*****

 

New Life  
Tentoo and Rose in Pete's World

They arrived in the London of Pete's World during a hot spell that lasted until nearly the first day of autumn. Autumn arrived with brilliant color muted by constant drizzle. Winter meant a snowstorm every other week, and a February ice storm that kept them housebound for four days. (Not that the Doctor or Rose particularly minded.) 

From the moment they arrived, they had worked hard. They established an identity for the Doctor and found a small, gorgeous home with a bright blue door and a back garden so the TARDIS had a place to grow. The Doctor began working at Torchwood, mostly so he could build the shatterfry unit to grow their TARDIS. 

Rose and the Doctor worked hard at negotiating the joys and pitfalls of creating a new relationship in a home with walls and doors and carpets. There were tears and arguments and overwhelming joy and love. It was hard, and wonderful, and intense. It seemed there wasn't really even time to take a breath until April came along. 

The magnolia tree in front of their house exploded in dark pink blooms it seemed overnight, and the daffodils in the back garden bloomed in all their yellow glory. The Doctor especially enjoyed all the pink and yellow around him. More often than not the sky was blue and the sun shone. It was as if the planet was paying them back for the struggles it had taken for them to get to that point.

One glorious afternoon, after a spring rain that resulted in a huge double rainbow, the Doctor burst out of the garden shed that was a place for a small TARDIS coral to grow. Rose paused in photographing the rainbow and turned to see him running toward her. She barely had time to shove her phone in her pocket before the Doctor embraced her joyfully, swinging her back and forth.

"What on earth...." Rose began.

She was interrupted by his joyous laughter. "She grew. Five whole centimeters. Our TARDIS is growing."

Rose smiled back, because his grin was too ecstatic not to mirror. She was a bit confused, however. "She's been growin' at a fairly good clip, I thought."

"Oh, Rose Tyler, there's more. I can feel her. For the first time...." The Doctor pointed to his temple. "she's communicating."

Rose's eyes widened and this time she jumped into his arms. He kissed her, and each caress of his lips celebrated the joy he felt. 

Rose immediately understood. She'd been there when this Doctor's bond with the TARDIS had been severed. She had held his hand, calmed his fears and loved him through every panicked moment as he struggled to deal with the painful silence. 

This was a rebirth of that connection. It seemed only right that it should occur when the world was coming to life again.


End file.
